Archer-class patrol vessel
Royal Navy |Class before= |Class after= |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range= |In service range= |In commission range= |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed= |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active=16 |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired= |Total ships preserved= }} |module2= , but limited due to the type of engine fitted) |Ship range= at |Ship complement='In training role': 5 ship's company, 1 training officer, 12 URNU students In operational role: 12 |Ship sensors=Decca 1216 navigation radar |Ship armament=3 x 7.62 mm L7 GPMG (Tracker & Raider) Fitted "for but not with" 20 mm cannon on fo'c'sle (Ranger & Trumpeter) }} }} Archer-class vessels ''Charger'' and ''Trumpeter'' in 2004. Their peacetime role is to train university students in navigation and seamanship.]] leading a waterborne procession at the Humber Bridge in June 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.]] The Archer class (or P2000) is a class of patrol and training vessels in service with the British Royal Navy, commonly referred to as a Fast Training Boat. Most are assigned to University Royal Naval Units, although [[HMS Tracker (P274)|HMS Tracker]] and [[HMS Raider (P275)|HMS Raider]] are armed and provide maritime force protection to high value shipping in the Firth of Clyde. History Ten vessels were ordered as the P2000 class, based on a design of an Omani coastguard cutter, from Watercraft Marine. They are twin-shaft vessels with moulded glass-reinforced plastic hulls. After that company went into liquidation, the balance of the order was completed by Vosper Thornycroft. The Archers were initially used as Royal Navy patrol craft and as training tenders for the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and University Royal Naval Units (URNU). Four identical vessels were ordered for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) as Example-class tenders. When that service was disbanded in 1994, the Examples were transferred to the Royal Navy for similar duties as their Archer-class brethren (under the same names under which they served as "XSVs", all of which begin with the first syllable "Ex"). Until 2005, the 4 Examples were still painted with a black hull. In 1998 two additional vessels (Raider and Tracker) of this design were commissioned into the Royal Navy from Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, to replace ''Loyal Watcher'' and ''Loyal Chancellor'' as URNU training vessels to the two newest URNUs, serving Bristol and Oxford Universities respectively. This brought the total of Archer class vessels in the Royal Navy to 16, of which 14 form the 1st Patrol Boat Squadron (formerly the Inshore Training Squadron), each one attached to an URNU (one per unit) under the command of a Lieutenant. The remaining 2 vessels (Pursuer and Dasher), having formed the Cyprus Squadron from 2003 to 2010, and URNU vessels before that,Pursuer was allocated to Sussex URNU, Dasher to Bristol URNU. They were replaced by Ranger and Trumpeter respectively in 2004 returned to the UK in April 2010 to form the Faslane Patrol Boat Squadron, performing security duties within HMNB Clyde. In 2012 Dasher and Pursuer were replaced by Raider and Tracker - these can be identified by a number of pintle-mounted L7 7.62 mm GPMG machine guns and armour plating. Ranger and Trumpeter were also formerly allocated to the Gibraltar Squadron for guard ship and search and rescue duties, but were replaced by the dedicated ''Scimitar'' class. These two ships were also used during the Thames River Pageant, escorting the Royal Barge during the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Unlike the remainder of the class, both these ships remain capable of being mounted with a 20 mm cannon on the fo'c'sle. The NATO designation of a P2000 is "PBR", denoting a "Patrol Boat - Riverine and Harbours". Vessels See also * Harbour Defence Motor Launch - WWII equivalent * CB90 class fast assault craft * Patrol Craft Fast - the "Swift Boats" Notes References * Britain's Modern Royal Navy, Paul Beaver, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1996, ISBN 1-85260-442-5 * Today's Royal Navy in Colour, Jeremy Flack, Greenwich Editions, 1996, ISBN 0-86288-089-0 External links * [http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Fleet/Ships/Patrol-and-Minehunters/P2000-Class Official Royal Navy Archer-class page] Archer-class patrol vessels Category:Patrol vessels of the Royal Navy Category:Patrol vessels of the United Kingdom Category:Small combat vessel classes Category:Military boats